Previewing Formula 1 Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix

Jeffrey Boswell

March 6, 2026

The 2026 Formula 1 season kicks off in Australia, with the Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix on March 7th. New technical regulations include vastly different power units, smaller and lighter cars, “overtake mode” (instead of the now-defunct downforce reduction system, “boost mode,” and smaller tires. Some teams have prospered adjusting to the new rules, while others have struggled or downright misunderstood the assignment altogether.

It promises to be a wild and unpredictable season, and chances are the hierarchy of dominance will differ greatly from now until later points in the season.

Audi

The former Sauber F1 team is now Audi, and Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto remain, giving the team the continuity of Hülkenberg’s veteran presence and Bortoleto’s budding talent.

Sauber’s puke green livery is gone, replaced with a sleek titanium/silver/red combination that screams, “We might not be fast, but we sure look fast.”

Audi opened eyes when they introduced their 2026 car, which featured a radical sidepod configuration. The innovation let the rest of the paddock know that Audi won’t just sit back and copy what other teams do, and while they won’t lead on the track, they will lead in technical innovations. 

Alpine

Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto return for Alpine (Colapinto was tapped to replace Jack Doohan just seven races into 2025), who finished 10th in the constructors standings in 2025. But Alpine’s lack of results in 2025 was, in part, due to the team’s early focus on getting ahead of the new 2026 rules. In other words, Alpine was so bad in the first 10 races of 2025, with only three points-scoring results (all by Gasly), that the team threw in the towel on 2025 and shifted resources towards preparing for 2026. 

The strategy seems to have paid off, as the Alpine car, particularly the one Gasly was in, impressed in pre-season testing. And with team principal and technical director Flavio Briatore in the mix, anything, save for wins and podiums, is possible, (and potentially something fraudulent).    

Aston Martin

Oh boy. Where to start with Aston Martin? How about the back of the grid? 

Aston Martin had high hopes for 2026. They expected to distance themselves from F1’s mid-tier teams and move closer towards the Big 4 (McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes). They succeeded in distancing themselves from mid-tier teams, all right…just in the wrong direction. Major, and I mean major, issues with the team’s Honda power unit arose, seemingly out of nowhere, in pre-season testing, and Aston Martin cut short its testing, and engineers at Honda were sent scrambling back to Japan for answers, or excuses. I’m sure no one had “excessive vibrations” and “nerve damage” on their early-season F1 Bingo cards. If they did, then I’m guessing they also made a fortune in a polymarket wager.

It’s especially sad for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who had hoped, at age 44, for one last hurrah in a car that he could maybe take to the podium. At this point, that seems highly unlikely. And any success for Aston Martin this season hinges on how quickly they can solve and overcome the power unit shortcomings. However, rumors that Aston Martin may either sit out the Australian Grand Prix entirely or start the race and retire after a few laps don’t breed confidence whatsoever.

As it stands now, in a season in which they hoped to run with the big dogs, albeit in the pack behind, Aston Martin is merely hoping to just run.

And, oh yeah, Lance Stroll, son of Aston Martin part-owner and executive chairman Lawrence Stroll, is the other Aston driver. And Lance has opinions on what it’s like to drive Aston Martin’s car, which has apparently gone through the longest “shakedown” in F1 history.

Cadillac

As the new kid on the F1 grid in 2026, success will be hard to come by for the first American team since Haas joined in 2006. But for Cadillac, success will be relative. It won’t be measured in race wins, because that won’t happen. Success will be gauged in completing races, gathering technical data, and building for the future. 

Cadillac will be led by veteran drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, who, if given a capable car, can at least score a few points. Bottas and Perez have both been part of F1 dynasties, Bottas with Mercedes from 2017-2021, and Perez with Red Bull from 2021-2024. So they have the experience, talent, and work ethic to watch other drivers dominate the sport. And that’s likely what they will be seeing this season.

Ferrari

Believe it or not, many people are saying Ferrari could challenge for the world championship in 2026. As the past has told us, though, high hopes for Ferrari usually mean bigger disappointment. But could this year be different? Ferrari’s pre-season testing was highly successful, and while they may trail Mercedes for early-season supremacy, it’s not by much. 

Ferrari clearly has the speed, and a brand-new rotating rear wing flap that flips completely upside down has the paddock buzzing.  

Charles Leclerc may finally have the car to unlock his full potential, and Lewis Hamilton, after a frustrating 2025, is, for the first time it seems, happy with his car. Plus, Hamilton is rumored to be involved with worldwide media personality, socialite, and yet-to-be licensed attorney Kim Kardashian. Are the cars and stars aligning for Hamilton to win an unprecedented eighth world championship? If he does, you’d have to commend him for winning the world championship while also dating Kardashian. I’d say that would be mighty impressive “Hammer-time” management.     

Haas

Incumbent drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman led Haas to an eight-place finish in the constructors championship in 2025. Not an ideal result, but it was made a bit more promising when you consider they were just 13 points behind Racing Bulls in sixth. 

A better result is attainable, and the best-case scenario sees Haas in sixth place when the 2026 season concludes.

The worst-case outcome for Haas in 2026 is being just the second-best American team on the grid.

McLaren

After being the hunted in 2025 and clinching the constructors championship with a whopping six races left in the season, McLaren finds themselves merely “in the hunt” as the 2026 season begins. 

If you subscribe to the notion that pre-season testing creates the early pecking order, McLaren is even with Red Bull, and both will have to play catch-up to Mercedes and Ferrari.

But with arguably the most balanced driver lineup of defending world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, McLaren should be able to keep the front-runners in sight while, using an old cliche, the “car comes to them,” and McLaren’s upgrades prove more substantial than those of their competitors to help close the gap.  

Mercedes  

Toto Wolff’s outfit nailed every aspect of F1’s new tech rules, backed up by a flawless pre-season testing program. The result? Veteran Mercedes driver George Russell is the favorite to win the season opener in Australia, according to the oddsmakers and betting sites. 

Teammate Kimi Antonelli, who logged three podiums as a rookie in 2025, has the talent and now the experience to turn those podiums into wins in 2026. Mercedes is thinking big in 2026. Given their prime early form, winning both the drivers and constructors championships is within reach. Not winning either would be a massive disappointment.

Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls will pair Liam Lawson with the 2026 grid’s only rookie, 18-year-old Englishman Arvid Lindblad. Lindblad fills the spot vacated when Isaak Hadjar jumped to Red Bull. Lindblad has been a member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2021. That’s an impressive tenure on the Junior Team, until you consider it’s about four years, 364 days less than Max Verstappen spent as a Red Bull Junior.

Lawson can certainly be a guiding presence for Lindblad, the youngest driver on the grid. Lawson has been through the wringer in the Red Bull family, starting the 2025 season alongside Verstappen before being demoted to Racing Bulls after just three races. If nothing else, Lawson knows to watch his back, and in doing so in 2026, he’d better hope that his rookie teammate is behind him.  

Red Bull

Max Verstappen enters 2026 in an unfamiliar position—not the defending the title of world champion. Often, for Verstappen, his motivation comes down to “How bad do you want it?” If his answer is “Not that bad,” that’s still enough motivation for the Red Bull ace to win the world championship. Verstappen doesn’t have rivals; he has mild inconveniences.   

In 2025, those inconveniences were an RB25 that underperformed mightily early in the season and a McLaren team that looked unstoppable for most of the season. Yet, Verstappen came within one position of Lando Norris at the season finale in Abu Dhabi from capturing his fifth consecutive world title.

Gone is Yuki Tsunoda as Verstappen’s teammate. In his place is Isaak “Don’t Call Me ‘Wingman,’ I Prefer The Term ‘Side Piece’” Hadjar, promoted from Racing Bulls. Hadjar’s job at Red Bull is to be more than a teammate to Verstappen; he’s tasked with being a useful teammate to Verstappen, something the Dutchman hasn’t had in a while, if ever.  

The pressure of racing in Verstappen’s shadow is immense; can Hadjar handle it? I point to events in 2025 that happened 168 days apart. At the season opener in Australia on March 16th, Hadjar spun and crashed on the formation laps in challenging, wet conditions. Hadjar was devastated. But he didn’t let that huge setback define his season. 168 days later, on August 31st at the Dutch Grand Prix, Hadjar was standing on the podium with race-winner Oscar Piastri and his future Red Bull teammate, Verstappen. I think Hadjar is ready for the moment.

Williams

The Williams Racing lineup of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon remains unchanged. Williams finished fifth in the constructors standings last season. It was a distant fifth, however, as Williams was 261 points behind Ferrari in fourth. In 2026, fifth place is still the target; the goal, however, is to finish much closer to fourth than 261 points. 

Predictions

Drivers championship: Verstappen

Constructors championship: Mercedes

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